As general manager Mike Rizzo and the rest of his front office enter the offseason, hiring a manager is, as the GM put it, “Job No. 1.” But once that’s completed, what do the Nationals have to do to ensure that they don’t repeat as also-rans?

“A manager is going to have input on what we do with the roster construction and that type of thing,” Rizzo said. “But I think the team, as far as the core group, is set up pretty good. The core rotation and the core bullpen is set up pretty good. We’re going to look to obviously better ourselves in any way we can.

“We’ll probably look to improve the bullpen, see if we can improve the bench a little bit. And any other way that we can improve the everyday lineup, if there’s any way we can do that, we’ll certainly look into that also.”

Here are three key areas to watch this winter:

Bolstering the bullpen and bench

The production from the Nationals’ bench improved later in the year, right along with the rest of their offense, but they still hit just .207 in pinch-hit situations and Steve Lombardozzi was their most productive pinch-hitter.

Scott Hairston, who did well hitting left-handed pitching, is under contract for next season, filling a veteran right-handed role. The Nationals will have to figure out if they can rely on Tyler Moore in a bench role again next year, and how they plan to fill the left-handed side of their bench — if they plan to replace Tracy, if they have some internal solutions they can rely on, like Corey Brown, or if a player like (brief National) David DeJesus is a fit.

A lot of that, however, depends on who the manager is and how he likes to use his bench. Johnson often preferred more offensive, veteran bench players. A different manager may use his bench in a different way.

As for the bullpen, the Nationals’ most pressing need remains left-handed relief.

While Ian Krol and Fernando Abad performed well early on in their call-ups this season, they faded later in the season as Xavier Cedeno came on. Perhaps the Nationals will wade into the free-agent pool here again and try to secure someone like J.P. Howell, who turned the Nationals down last year in favor of a one-year deal with the Dodgers, or Oliver Perez, who has reinvented himself as a reliever the last two seasons.

About the Author

Amanda Comak covers the Washington Nationals and comes to The Washington Times from the Cape Cod Times and after stints with MLB.com and the Amsterdam (N.Y.) Recorder. A Massachusetts native and 2008 graduate of Boston University, Amanda can be reached at acomak@washingtontimes.com and you can follow her on Twitter @acomak.